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It’s crazy to think that two people from totally different countries would end up in the same place at the same time doing the same weird niche activity! 

Courtney and James briefly met on the WGI Finals floor in 2016 while marching different groups from different states and they became good friends during the Infinity Percussion 2017 season where they both aged out together. Their friendship grew as they taught at Infinity from 2018 to 2022--winning together while teaching Infinity 2 in 2022.

Their friendship was marked by lots of sleepless nights in the Taco Bell drive-thru, cheap bottles of Aldi wine, Cody Ko and Noel Miller’s shows and podcast, being platonic wedding dates, and James even coming to Courtney’s graduation from Valencia College so that she wouldn’t have to graduate alone. 

It only makes sense, then, that they would end up falling in love in New York City during the holiday season--Hallmark couldn’t have written a better love story if they tried! James joined Courtney on a 10-day trip back up north in 2019 so Courtney could visit friends and family, and they returned home with feelings for one another. Finally, two days before Christmas, James and Courtney made it official. 

Courtney initially moved into the Burns’ household to save up some money for a new apartment and recover from surgery, but due to COVID and her budding relationship, she ended up never leaving and grew close with James’ parents. Her cat Mora would join the family as well, becoming their first fur baby and being spoiled by her grandparents in the process. In 2021, James and Courtney adopted Tip and Top from a local rescue and grew their little family to 5. 

Courtney has successfully transitioned James into a Philadelphia sports fan, traveling up and down the East Coast for Eagles, Phillies, and Sixers games and experiencing heartbreak together. After all, how many people can say they watched the Union and Phillies lose their championships on the day of their engagement party?

James proposed to Courtney in August of 2022, but they knew that they wanted to marry quietly and quickly; COVID was still making international travel uncertain and it would take a while to save up and pay for the wedding of their dreams. They married surrounded by their parents and best friends on November 1st, 2022, at the Orange County Courthouse in downtown Orlando. 

They now both work in offices with a view of that beautiful courthouse where they became one, and spend their free time playing poker really badly and playing soccer less badly. 

James and Courtney plan to spend the rest of their lives following The Wonder Years around on tour, yelling at grown men who play various sports professionally, and chasing their dogs to take plastic out of their mouths--and they wouldn’t have it any other way.